Space, Time, and DVR mechanics

Reading Summary:

In the article “Space, Time, and DVR mechanics,” Klosterman discusses the concept of watching events live versus watching recorded events. In the article, Klosterman examines the question of why these recorded events are less enjoyable than the live version. In the end, the author finds that it comes down to the fact that the viewer is in control. They can choose what parts to watch and what to skip in the recorded events. As a result, they often skip through the commercials and the less dramatic parts. On the other hand, viewers do not have this luxury when watching live. However, these commercials and less dramatic parts of the event often build the hype and emotional investment of the viewers, so that when it does get dramatic they are often on the edge of their seat. Whereas those who watch the recorded version often don’t get as excited for these parts because they know that they have already occured in real life.

Outside Example:

I have several examples that connect to my reading. One of my examples is the show South Park. I have watched this show on Philo and decided to subscribe so I would get every episode. The show started in 1997 and has a lot of episodes throughout its 26 seasons. My next example would have to do with live sports. I grew up a huge Cal fan (UC Berkeley) and every Saturday I would watch their football games. The stadium is 30 minutes from my house and I would go to most games in person, but also watch some from home. 

Reading Connection:

After being subscribed to South Park for a while I started to have a ton of unwatched episodes. At one point I found that I had over 40 episodes still waiting to be watched. However, I ignored these past episodes and made the choice to watch the new episodes or the live episodes first. South park is the type of show where you can usually watch a random episode without needing context of the previous shows. My decision seems to align with what Klosterman discusses in the article. SImilarly, with the example of Cal football, I would sometimes not be able to watch the games due to a conflict with an activity or a sport that I had that day. I was adamant about always recording the game, so I could go back and watch it. But what I found is that I would never end up being able to watch it. I would often get bored and skip until the end. Just as Klosterman mentioned in the article, I think at the core I view this time as wasted time because of the fact I know it already happened. As a result, I lose my patience and often skip it and check the final score.